The world was first introduced to the USS Enterprise and its journey across the Milky Way galaxy 5 decades ago, in the year 1966, through the original rendition of the iconic Star Trek enterprise titled ‘Star Trek: The Original Series’. Two decades later, in 1987, Star Trek: The Next Generation launched, and enjoyed a successful seven-year run a sequel to the original that run.
Fans fell in love with The Next Generation, mostly thanks to the characters and the cast. The series ended in 1994, but the main cast of the show continues to wow audiences across the world. Scroll below to see what the cast of TNG is doing now!
Colm Meaney
Colm Meaney may have started out as an extra on TNG, but rose quickly to a Star Trek regular, appearing in 225 episodes through the franchise. After the end of TNG, Meaney went on to star in Deep Space Nine that ran for 6 years.
Meaney has made guest appearances on several television series such as The Simpsons, Law & Order and Alice. He also played recurring characters in Hell On Wheels and most recently Will.
Will Wheaton
After the end of TNG, Will Wheaton took a short hiatus and moved to Kansas. Upon returning, Wheaton studied acting for an additional 5 years before re-entering the industry. Over the last 2 decades, he has carved a name for himself as a blogger, gamer, actor and writer with a massive online following.
Wheaton has worked as a voice actor since the age of 10 and lent his abilities to many television projects after TNG such as Ben 10, Batman and Teen Titans. He has also appeared on several episodes of The Big Bang Theory, playing a fictitious version of himself and regularly hosts TableTop, a board-game based web series. He has written for various publications, self-published his own book and consistently blogs on his website.
Brent Spiner
Brent Spiner played Commander Data, the loved Android aboard the USS Enterprise for all 7 seasons of TNG as well as the 4 films that followed. He later reappeared in Star Trek: Enterprise is an ancestor to the creator of Mr. Data, Arik Soong.
After TNG, Spiner appeared on several television shows such as Friends, Fraiser, Mad About You and The Big Bang Theory, playing a fictional version of himself in the latter. Spiner also played a major role in the feature films Independence Day and its sequel Independence Day: Resurgence.
Marina Sirtis
Born and brought up in Britain, Marina Sirtis bagged the role of Deanna Troi on TNG right before the expiration of her visa to stay in the USA. She went on to play Troi for all seven seasons of the show and also made various appearances in other projects created by the Star Trek franchise.
Along with her TNG co-star Frakes, Sirtis voiced a character in Disney’s Gargoyles for two seasons. She appeared in various movies and television shows such as The Grudge 3, A Dark Reflection, Grey’s Anatomy, and The Orville. She currently voices the role of Cosma in OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes.
Gates McFadden
Gated McFadden was initially written out on TNG in season one after being replaced by Diana Muldaur as Dr. Katherine Pulaski. However, she returned in season 3 and starred as Dr. Beverly Crusher till the end of the series as well as in 4 films that followed.
After TNG, McFadden worked on a number of TV projects such as Marker, Mad About You and the television film Crowned and Dangerous. McFadden has also taught theatre and acting at several Universities such as Purdue, Harvard, University of Pittsburgh and USC.
Michael Dorn
Starring in 272 episodes and five movies, Michael Dorn has appeared more times in the regular cast than any other Star Trek actor over the years. He also portrayed Worf on episodes of Family Guy and Webster.
Dorn bagged a recurring role on the hit TV series, Castle, playing the therapist to the lead character, Detective Beckett. Dorn has also starred as a voice actor for various projects such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Arrow, and Supergirl.
Denise Crosby
Denise’s portrayal of Tasha Yar in TNG might have not lasted very long after being killed off before season 2, but she made several appearances through the future seasons of the series thanks to some time jumps in the show.
Crosby also narrated and co-produced Trekkies and its sequel, Trekkies 2, both documentaries featuring interviews with fans and devotees of Star Trek. She is now working on the third installment of this documentary series. Crosby has also appeared on The Walking Dead, Bones, and works as a recurring character on Showtime’s Ray Donovan.
LeVar Burton
Before playing Geordi La Forge in TNG, LeVar Burton began hosting and producing Reading Rainbow on PBS in 1983. This series, geared towards children, ran for 23 long seasons and gained much appreciation and many accolades, including 12 Emmy awards won by Burton himself.
When the show went off the air in 2006, Burton and his partner Mark Wolfe bought the rights to the show and launched it in the format of an IOS app for the iPad in 2012. The app was an instantaneous success. Burton and his partner launched a kickstarter campaign to bring back Reading Rainbow as a web series back in 2014 and raised a whopping $5 million for the project. Through the years, Burton has made frequent appearances in shows such as The Big Bang Theory and Community.
Jonathan Frakes
After finishing his command as William Riker on TNG, Jonathan Frakes started to explore his directing abilities and worked on a number of feature film projects such as Star Trek: Klingon, Clockstoppers, and Thunderbirds. He also directed several episodes of TV shows such as Switched At Birth, The Orville, and Burn Notice.
He also played minor roles in episodes he directed for NCIS: Los Angeles, Castle, and Criminal Minds. Recently he starred as the voice of J’Son in Guardians of the Galaxy on TV.
Patrick Stewart
Patrick Stewart came from a rich theatre background before bagging the role of Captain Picard on TNG. However after working on the series for 7 long years, Picard stated that he initially had difficulty returning to the stage. He continued to play Picard through Star Trek films that released in the 90s but found it challenging to be cast as other characters in films.
Stewart was eventually cast as Professor Charles Xavier in X-Men, another iconic role he would continue to play for 17 years. He also continued to work on stage, starring in productions like Othello, Macbeth, and Hamlet on stage. Now Stewart is all set for the premiere of his new CBS All Access series, Star Trek: Picard, the 8th series in the Star Trek franchise, set at the end of the 24th century and 20 years after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis